Somewhere in a deeply hidden cave, two silhouettes were standing.
A short, muscular, dark-skinned woman with short brown hair who was wearing barely any leather clothes, just enough to cover her private zones.
Next to her, a tall, feminine-looking man in purple robes and long jet-black hair was carefully observing two strange objects in front of them.
The short amazon, Emna, stood before a black spear deeply rooted in the ground. It looked like it was composed of black, eldritch, almost sentient, moving mass.
Next to it was a levitating fan made of a similar but pinkish substance. Ethaniel, though, looked somberly at something between these weapons.
There, he found a body in a sitting position. It was pristine, as if the owner was just sleeping there, with no signs of rot or decay. He was Aaran, the Demon of Erudition, one of the peak experts in this world and, above all, their master.
"After all this time we spent looking for a master, we finally found him." Ethaniel said in his pleasant spring-like voice.
Emna looked at him, nodded, and then moved, saying, "I'll go first" in her naturally imposing voice.
The closer she moved to the spear, the more alive and aggressive the weapon became. When she was just next to it, the weapon decomposed into a pure black mass and jumped straight into her.
Emna didn't even blink at it and let it get into her. Even with all that pain she had to endure in her life, this time, it was on another level, which made her grimace for a few seconds before her mind went blank.
Ethaniel observed her constantly in case something went wrong, not that he expected his master to fail in such an important matter.
After a few minutes, Emna's eyes regained clarity. Then she backed off and let her fellow disciple absorb his Relic. Although they didn't know what exactly the use of these was, they were long ago ready to accept the last gift from their master.
After Ethaniel absorbed Relic, the surroundings changed before he even had time to catch his breath.
They instantly readied themselves for battle and looked around. From the dark cave, they appeared on the beach, where they could see a tall figure looking at them with a kind, elderly smile.
They instantly recognized him, although he looked a few years younger than in the cave.
It was Aaran, the very person they had spent the last few years looking for, their long-missed master!
"Master!" "Master" the always steady Emna greeted him enthusiastically with apparent happiness and delight in her voice; even the ever-so-social Ethaniel couldn't mask his relief.
"It was hard on you, wasn't it? Come and let's talk about how your past few years went." Aaran's words were filled with love and warmth towards his disciples.
For the next few hours, The disciples focused on recounting the last few years, their adventures, and happy and sad memories. Even if they were already hundreds of years old, they still acted like children in front of their master, and so he listened to their stories with full attention so as not to miss any details about people closest to his heart in this life. The scene was amazingly harmonious; everything was in its perfect state, just as if the very heavens willed it to happen.
...
"I'm glad both of you made it here. I know you have many questions, but you were talking much more than anticipated, so let me speak as we are running out of time."
Aaran got up and went towards the ocean; looking into the horizon, he continued.
"As you probably already guessed, I'm not exactly a native of this world, and as I hope you know, I didn't truly die. But we won't have a chance to meet anytime soon, so listen to me for now."
Aaran turned towards them and smiled.
"There are countless worlds, and I don't mean small realms like the ones you explored before, but fully complete worlds. Some of them have their own set of rules that will differ from what you have known. You must get past the void surrounding your world to get to them."
Ethaniel was almost wholly resigned to this conversation's direction but decided to ask in his last hope of getting a different answer.
"Master, you are talking about the Absss, right? The same place that everyone who went there in the past died, and now it's called the absolute death zone?"
Aaran turned towards them with the same smile, but this time, it sent shivers down Ethaniel's spine.
"Obviously, what else could let you reach places that probably only a few people could get to? But I need to correct you: It's not that everyone who went in died. It's just that no one returned. Who knows, maybe someone reached a world much better than this and just had no reason to get back."
Ethaniel sighed and slowly returned to his magnetic voice, which alone could topple kingdoms and seduce succubuses.
"Ugh, master, wasn't last time already the final trial you set up for us? What is this all about going through the most dangerous area?"
"Indeed, and I'm not going to force you, but if you want to progress your realm and make more breakthroughs, you won't have any other choice but to leave."
Ethaniel sighed and felt like he still underestimated how crazy his master was. "With all your lessons and how deeply you rooted in us the desire to reach new heights, it's impossible to reject that trip."
On the other hand, Emna didn't react strongly to this knowledge. For her, dangers were insignificant compared to a possible meeting with Aaran, this time with his real body. At that time, she wouldn't easily let him leave her behind again!
But at that point, the disciples' bodies started to disappear quickly.
"Ah, it's time. Remember, Emna, you are my ninth disciple, while you, Ethaniel, are my eighth. Also, hold tight to these coins, as they can guide you to the closest world with complete rules. Let's meet again in the future, little ones."
"Wait for us, master!"
Before Emna could finish the sentence, she had already disappeared with her senior brother.
...
A lonely figure could be seen in a world that was falling apart piece by piece. He was standing on the decaying beach, looking into the sky. This time, a sad smile was gracing his face as he knew his next rebirth would not only be last, but this time, he would be able to preserve almost only pure knowledge.
Most of his memories will be forgotten, but that's part of the price he had to pay to achieve what he had desired for so long, and nothing would stop him from achieving that.
When he looked at his body, it was tightly restrained by golden shackles that no one but him could see. Each part of the shackles had engraved countless runes that no mortal could look upon.
'This was the last time you successfully bound me, for I will be your puppet no more!'
Finally, when the last pieces of this illusory realm fell apart, his sad smile was gone; only absolute calmness was left.
"Let the Last Rebirth begin!"
...
Back in the cave, where the body of their master had earlier been sitting, two coins, one gold, one silver, lay lying. The disciples moved to pick them up and carefully observed them. Both coins had a thin black line going through on one side, and on the other side, there was a weird, ever-changing pattern that at one time looked similar to many things and at another didn't look like anything.
Ethaniel sighed again and felt like he got older a few centuries in just one conversation with his master.
"I guess that answers what coins master meant, so what are your plans now?"
With her calm, almost stoic expression, Emna answered without sparing him a glance. "We will finish all our matters in the next three years, then meet here."
"Wait, what do you mean by 'we'?"
She glared at him for a few seconds without saying anything. Ethaniel sighed again because he knew he would follow his master's advice anyway.
"Seriously, I'm sighing too much when interacting with both of you, alright, alright. I have a lot of things to do as well. See you around."
After finishing his words, he disappeared without any sounds or energy fluctuations, as if he was never there.
After standing there for a few more minutes and looking at the place where Aaran's body had vanished, Emna left the cave without looking back. She had to quickly tie up all loose ends to prepare for her journey.
...
Somewhere far away, in a vast realm that not long ago underwent enormous changes, an extensive building complex surrounded by walls a few meters tall stood in the central district of Academic City. In the middle of the night, around 1 A.m., one could hear the first cry of new life being born.
...
In one of the rooms filled with rich decorations stood a considerable queen bed on which lay a tired woman with her newborn baby.
All the other people who helped her deliver the baby left already so she could rest with the child.
A few minutes later, footsteps could be heard from outside the room, and a tall man with distinctive facial features came in. He had midnight-black, short hair and golden eyes and wore a black, lean, formal suit with golden accessories. Although he looked indifferent, one could see joy and worry deeply in his eyes. His name was Arthur Sirius, and he was the current head of one of the most powerful noble families of the human race.
On the bed was a beautiful woman, Layla Sirius, Arthur's only wife. Her long white hair shone under the moonlight that fell through the window, and her delicate face was so perfect that no human could ever think about comparing to it.
...
On the Seventh March, the sixty-sixth year of the New World calendar, the world welcomed the most absurd genius, Aaran Sirius!